YOUNGSTOWN Board members vote to put Berry name on middle school

The board took an early look at the new East High School.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A new school building in Youngstown will bear the name of P. Ross Berry, a black architect who was responsible for many of the city's buildings in the late 1800s.
Board of education members voted unanimously Monday to name a new middle school to be built on the east side after Berry. A groundbreaking for the facility, which is being built facing Bryn Mawr Avenue, will be today. The middle school will be one of three new or renovated schools on the East Side.
The Rev. Lewis W. Macklin II said it is important and befitting that the middle school be named in honor of Berry, who was black, because an abstract from a 1916 land contract for the Bryn Mawr area states that no one shall sell any piece of the land "to any person of Negro descent or any other undesirable person."
Among other things, Berry designed the first high school in the city and laid its bricks.
"This is a great opportunity, a tremendous opportunity and I hope and trust young children will come and ask, 'Why is this building named P. Ross Berry?'," the Rev. Mr. Macklin said. "It's more than a tribute to African Americans, it's a tribute to our entire community."
Controversial issue
Some residents wanted Berry's name to appear on a new high school building being built in the area where the former East High School -- now East Middle School -- sits at Parker Street and Bennington Avenue. That suggestion sparked controversy among some East High School alumni, supporters of the Berry name and some board members.
The naming of East High School caused some tension between Mr. Macklin, who has researched Berry's work and is in favor of naming a building in honor of the architect, and school board President Lock P. Beachum Sr.
Mr. Macklin produced a copy of Beachum's signature on a petition in support of naming the high school after Berry. Beachum said he did not sign a petition in support of naming the high school after Berry -- but in support of naming some other school after the architect.
Mr. Macklin said all petitions were clearly labeled and anyone who signed should have known the issue.
A new East High
The school board voted 4-3 last week to name the new school East High School. Beachum supported the East High School name and said he vehemently disagrees with naming the new high school anything else.
The board also took a virtual tour of the outside of the new East High School facility to be built on Parker Street and Bennington Avenue. Architects from Ricciuti Balog & amp; Partners showed the board materials that will be used in the building process.
Gary Balog, of Ricciuti Balog & amp; Partners, said the facility will be perpendicular to Parker Street and Bennington Avenue with a main entrance on Bennington. The building, he said, will be mostly one story with a second story added in some areas.
The exterior will be brick masonry with a lot of glass, he said. There was no discussion of the inside design.